Netflix has slotted Thanksgiving Day, November 23 for the premiere of Spike Lee’s 10-episode series She’s Gotta Have It, a contemporary update of Lee’s groundbreaking 1986 indie film. The internet network also unveiled a first-look teaser below.

DeWanda Wise stars in the central role of Nola Darling, a Brooklyn-based artist in her late twenties struggling to define herself and divide her time amongst her Friends, her Job and her Three Lovers: Greer Childs played by Cleo Anthony, Jamie Overstreet played by Lyriq Bent, and Mars Blackmon played by Hamilton alum Anthony Ramos. Chyna Layne and Ilfenesh Hadeara, Margot Bingham, Sydney Morton and Joie Lee also star.

Lee directs all 10 episodes of the series, which he created and produced. Tonya Lewis Lee is executive producer. Barry Michael Cooper and Lynn Nottage are also producers.

Lee made his breakthrough with She’s Gotta Have It, which he shot in 12 days during the summer of ’85 on a shoestring budget. The film, starring Tracy Camilla Johns as a young, sexually independent Brooklynite who juggles three suitors (Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell, Lee), signaled a change of how African Americans are portrayed in movies and ended up grossing $7,137,502 at th U.S. box office.

(New York, New York--August 10, 2016) Leading post production non-profit the Blue Collar Post Collective are excited to announce that they are expanding their Executive Committee, bringing in additional leadership after two years of exponential growth. This change has been prompted by the resignation of co-President Katie Hinsen, who founded the organization in 2014. After six years working in New York’s post production industry, she is returning to her native New Zealand.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to serve on the board of an organization that will be more effective in making positive change to our industry without me at the lead,” says Katie Hinsen. “Sometimes it takes a catalyst for change to make you consider how you could run things more effectively, and I really believe that this new leadership, alongside our Board, is going to make the BCPC the best it can possibly be.”

Editor / Assistant Editor Janis Vogel will remain at the helm of the organization as Co-President. She will be joined by Felix Cabrera, who will transition from his current service as a board member, to Co-President of the BCPC. Cabrera is a Senior Producer at Black Hole/Lost Planet Editorial, and has been an active member of the BCPC since its inception. The new expanded leadership will also welcome Filmmaker Grace McNally, and John Gallagher, Director for Technology for BMCC’s Media Arts & Technology program. McNally is transitioning from Board Chairperson to the Executive Committee role, where she will work alongside industry veteran and beloved educator John Gallagher to strengthen relationships, secure funding and enable the organization to expand its groundbreaking programs.

“The BCPC lit a torch in the post production community and I am honored to be surrounded by a group that will help me carry it into the future,” says Janis Vogel. “We are changing the face of the film and television industry one initiative at a time and I'm so proud to be a part of that change as we continue to grow in strength and numbers”.

There’s this song. It’s a piano ballad, one written for the pre-HIV/AIDS era of San Francisco where poverty-stricken street hustlers wandered Polk Street, turning tricks and sharing burgers at the famed Grubstake diner. "I saw the best bodies of my generation sold, bartered, and destroyed by drugs and prostitution," the lyrics go, describing the "dumb men" who paid the rent and the "young men" who loved them. But "The Golden Age of Hustlers" is beautiful, too, a poetic, vivid song for gloomy cabarets and lonely spotlights, an artifact of a not-so-distant era of queer existence on the brink of vanishing entirely. And its author, "the unsinkable" Bambi Lake, lived it all.

A fixture in alt theater and cabaret troupes in 1970s and '80s San Francisco, Bambi enchanted everyone she met. With her wild beauty and pre-punk, theatrical antics, she was a source of both bedlam and irresistible energy, an early member of the Cockettes who was frequently kicked out of venues and arrested by the police. But Bambi endured, putting out a record of cabaret songs laced with glam and punk DNA in 2005, Broadway Hostess. She also never stopped performing those songs, even to this day: Bambi appears now at cabaret nights here and there across San Francisco, an unstoppable artistic force who found solace from the hardships of being a trans woman in America through song, and whose voice and music shaped countless artists coming of age in the embryonic punk and spoken word scenes of the time.

Silas Howard, the former Tribe 8 guitarist turned documentarian and director, was one of those artists. The first time he saw Bambi, she was crashing a Pride parade. "There was this tow truck pulling a fake cop car, and it was surrounded by all these punks and drag queens with baseball bats and high heel shoes smashing the cop car," Howard recalls. "And then in front of it it said ‘NO APOLOGIES, NO REGRETS.’ That was the sort of crew that Bambi was performing with." Through Howard’s time with the groundbreaking, incisive Tribe 8, he ran in the same circles as Bambi, and became enamored with her as a larger-than-life character, a rare older member of the queer artistic circle in a time when tradition and histories were being erased by the generations lost to the AIDS epidemic.

Last year, Howard returned to Polk Street with camera in tow to put Bambi on film. The resulting short documentary, Sticks & Stones: Bambi Lake, takes a stroll with Bambi as she points out old haunts and dishes on her past, intercut with interviews with longtime creative partner Birdie Bob and archival footage of Bambi performing at San Francisco clubs. The doc is a glimpse into Bambi’s art and life, while also serving as a time capsule of a fringe artist pushed to the margins of history and a San Francisco in the thick of gentrification.

Without question, Bambi’s influence has persisted. Justin Vivian Bond, the NYC-based cabaret legend and trans activist, still performs "The Golden Age of Hustlers" in their live shows, and even sang it in a tender music video that Howard and Erin Ereenwell directed last spring. Filled with a crop of current drag queens and performance artists, the video captured the impact that fringe artists like Bambi have had on current generations of outré artists. But her impact extends even further: just last month, teen fanzine Teenage News tracked her down and interviewed her.

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing queer artist AB SOTO. I recently saw him perform and was blown away by his energy and message. His dance moves come from sources as varied as street posturing and Paris Is Burning-style balls. When combined, they ask the questions: What is butch? What is femme? What makes someone sexy? The best way to understand what I'm talking about is to check out some of his videos in the slideshow below. You won't regret it.

If you're in New York, AB SOTO will be performing at the BUSHWIG afterparty at Bizarre in Brooklyn on Saturday, Sept. 7. He's also preparing to go back on tour next month, so check his website for tour dates and locations.

Phillip M. Miner: When did you start making music?

AB SOTO: I started making music in 2009. I knew I wanted to perform; I just didn't know in what capacity. I started out studying fashion. That got boring. Then I was a backup dancer for years. That got boring too. I tried acting, and I hated going to auditions, because it was like, "You're a Latino, so you're up for this commercial," or, "You're up for this audition with this recording artist," so I would have to shave and play this Ricky Martin role, which isn't me. I hated that I couldn't just be myself. I had to fit into some stereotype! Just because I'm Mexican doesn't mean I'm like that. Eventually I didn't want to shave anymore!

Miner: Did they ask you to butch up?

AB SOTO: They would, but I've always been a little rough around the edges, so that was easy. I moved to Hollywood from East L.A. to pursue my dream, and it was killing me. Every time I stood in line for an audition, I had to go back in the closet for these roles.

Around Christmas 2009, I was stuck at home, and I had so much to say, and I just started writing. I realized it was a song. I thought to myself, "What am I waiting for?!" So I put it all together -- my fashion, my dance, everything -- and started making my own music. Everything became so clear for me. I think people saw that I had something to say and my energy, and that's when everything took off.

Miner: You tour a lot. Do you mostly perform at gay bars and clubs?

AB SOTO: Not always. I've performed at concert venues for a mixed crowd. The response from the straight community is great. [Laughs.] "Straight community," like they have their own community! I love that! Make them the outsiders for once! Anyway, I love at the end of the show when straight guys come up to me and are like, "I don't know what you did up there, but that was fucking amazing. You got swag!" To have straight people out there be touched and moved and inspired by my work feels like I'm making an impact. If these men ever have a gay brother or gay son who comes out, they might be more accepting because they remember liking my performance and it was completely gay. That makes me feel really good.

Miner: So you think the straight community is ready for a gay breakthrough artist?

AB SOTO: Yes. I think the world is ready for authenticity in everything: in music, in our government, in everything. Everyone is sick of the bullshit. People may not be able to directly identify with you because you're gay, but they'll still see that you're being authentic and your work isn't fake or a façade. And they'll see that artist onstage and maybe they'll think they need to change something to make their life more authentic too. So I think regardless of sexual orientation, people are ready for authenticity.

Miner: Speaking of authenticity, many people criticize Madonna and Lady Gaga for ripping off urban gay culture. Do you have an opinion on that?

AB SOTO: I like Lady Gaga. She has talent. I love her visuals. That said, it's one thing to pay homage to somebody or something, but it seems like she's just taking things. That's not cute. I love what she's pushing. We all have to embrace each other and support each other, but we have to do it right. I don't believe in stepping on other people or ripping off other people. I believe in being a trailblazer and keeping it classy. But I'm rooting for her! I'm right there, Gaga!

Miner: Your songs contain words that some of our readers might not know. Do you mind explaining them? "Banjee."

AB SOTO: It means a lot of different things. It's a street vibe. It's independent. It's strong. It can be gay and straight. Some people say it's a homo thug. Some people say it's rough around the edges. I say it's crunchy. "Crunchy" is a new word I'm using. It's like "ratchet."

Miner: "Huntress."

AB SOTO: "Huntress" is when you've graduated hunty school. [Laughs.] "Hunty" comes from "cunty" and "honey" put together, so it's like the sweet version of "cunty." But when you're a next-level club kid or butch queen, that's "huntress." The definition is it's like a superhero, someone who hunts.

Miner: Your work plays with the concepts of feminine and masculine. Care to tell me more about that?

AB SOTO: When I was little, I would dance in front of the mirrors when no one else was watching. What came out was both my feminine side and my masculine side. Like I said, I feel like I lost that for years working in Hollywood. I wanted to go back and embrace [both sides of me] and have that be a big part of my work: Can you be turned on by a man who's wearing nail polish? What does it mean that I'm wearing a wig and still have facial hair? What is it to be sexy? I love to play with all of that in my clothes and my dance moves. It's all about getting people to think and see things differently.

Miner: What was growing up queer like for you?

AB SOTO: It was very lonely. The only outlet I had was dancing and performing by myself when no one was watching. My mom and dad always knew I was gay, but they never mentioned it. My dad couldn't understand it, my mother embraced it, and my brother just didn't speak about it. For me it felt like I grew up in a battlefield; it prepared me for the world and everything I'd have to face. I was always comfortable with who I was. I was like 11 years old, and I would tell my dad, "Dad, do you mind if I use the living room for a few minutes?" He'd say, "Are you going to perform?" And I'd say, "Yup!" He'd go outside and do some yard work so I could play [music] videos and dance and perform for myself. My dad knew I was gay. That was his way of accepting it. When my first boyfriend started coming around, he wasn't as accepting. It was this huge thing. He passed away shortly after that. I never actually said the "I'm gay" to him. I actually came out the same day he passed away. It all sort of happened in the same month. Those were the two hardest things I had to deal with. After that everything is cake.

Heidelberg, Germany-born and Martha’s Vineyard-raised Janis Vogel now resides in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, making her living editing documentaries, television documentary series, experimental film, fiction, music videos and promos.

Her academic background is interesting — she came into filmmaking with a fine-art perspective. “My favorite film teacher was experimental film and sound artist Ann Steurnagel at Wellesley College.” Vogel then went onto graduate school for an MFA in directing and cinematography. Her MFA thesis film, Drop, was a fiction short, for which she was awarded the Mayor’s Office of Film’s NextGen Award in 2008.

In addition to Vogel’s broad background, she is on the leadership committee of the Blue Collar Post Collective, a group of young post production professionals who have been having, at first informal and now more formal meet-ups in New York City.

Let’s find out more about Vogel and the BCPC…

Where do you work, and what type of work do you do?I am a freelance editor. I currently work at 11th Street Productions on various documentary series, primarily MTV’s Teen Mom 2. I recently edited a documentary short called Bambi Lake: Sticks & Stones, which was directed by Silas Howard). The film is about a notorious San Francisco transgender performer and entertainer Bambi Lake. Through the film she takes us on a stroll down Polk Street, sharing anecdotes and the history behind her song Golden Age of Hustlers, which was written about her time as a street hustler in the mid-’70s. It has had a great festival run, recently playing at eight, including Frameline, Outfest, NewFest and as part of an exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.

This project developed out of a music video for Justin Vivian Bond’s rendition of Golden Age of Hustlers. I was the editor on the music video, co-directed by Silas Howard and Erin Greenwell. I also recently edited two fiction shorts, Bright in Here and Room Service, directed byJulia Thompson. Bright in Here will premiere at the Queens World Film Festival on March 18.

What tools do you call on the most? work primarily in Avid Media Composer, but I also use Adobe Premiere and After Effects.

What was the idea behind BCPC (Blue Collar Post Collective), and when did it officially form?The Blue Collar Post Collective is an accessible and focused grassroots initiative, supporting the younger generation of post production professionals in New York. From humble beginnings as a small social meet-up group, the BCPC has grown to over 250 members. Our goal is to foster an all-inclusive community and to provide unique opportunities for its members to develop professionally.

Who were the founding members and how did you then go about publicizing it and getting members?Katie Hinsen (finishing artist) and James Reyes (system administrator) began the group as a way for their peers at different post houses to meet each other and break down the boundaries of competition. They hosted events and it grew rapidly through word of mouth. I was one of the people who went to those early meet-ups. As the the interest in BCPC grew rapidly, a Facebook group was set up and a leadership committee was formed. The Facebook group grew the BCPC to 250 members in two months, and it is continuing to expand.

I am one of six members on the leadership committee, along with Katie and James, Matthew Levy (editor), Michael Hernandez (DI artist/colorist) and Pat Gerrity (senior engineer). The leadership committee is working to garner the support of post houses and other industry organizations with which to collaborate in providing opportunities.

As a young post professional, did you find there weren’t enough existing groups that were inclusive or affordable to the younger generation?The BCPC is unique in that it is all-inclusive. There are no pre-requisites or membership fees. It is a casual group of seriously ambitious folks who want to share their experiences and support each other.

We feel the members will greatly benefit from the BCPC’s stated goals. It appeals to those who have questions about getting started in post, as well as those looking to advance their careers. It aims to answer questions about trajectory, the questions that seem the most daunting to ask.

At the same time, we want to get the best quality educational and career development opportunities or our members at a price they can afford. We are excited to create ties with other professional groups. This can give members the maximum benefit available.

You had your first official event in NYC recently. How did that go?Over 60 young people from New York’s post community came together at Amity Hall on Monday, February 23, to celebrate the Blue Collar Post Collective’s 2015 launch and meet the newly-appointed leadership committee.

Amity Hall provided a great environment for conversation to flow. It felt nothing like a networking event, which really is the goal. We want to give people a warm and welcoming environment to share stories, career goals and ideas. We all work in caves, alone for the most part, certainly not beside others sharing the same title, so it is a great way to meet fellow cave dwellers.

What do you see for the BCPC over the next six months, or even a year?We have been learning what our members want to know more about and where they need guidance. The BCPC will hold monthly meet-ups. Over the next few months, we will organize events focused on offering educational and career development opportunities as well.

Other events will focus on a subset of the industry, such as panel discussions with editors, colorists, engineers etc. Events specific to an area of post can be places where industry leaders focus on how they moved through the industry.

We will always hold a monthly meet-up. This event will be a constant of BCPC, a place our members can hangout and call home. We will definitely be developing more events with speakers, presentations, screenings and co-hosting events with other groups.

While this was developed with an eye on the younger post pros, are you guys welcoming to some of the more veteran types as well?We definitely welcome the veterans. Our leadership have gained veteran status in some ways and welcome veteran industry colleagues. I personally started as a producer, but editing is where I found my home. We want our meet-ups to be a non-intimidating place where the younger generation can meet the city’s top talent and have an open forum to get their advice and support. A lot of industry veterans want a way to give back to those coming up in the industry and our group is an opportunity to do that.

Untitled, Expandedcontinues the discourse about power, gender, desire, repression, diversity, art, society, culture, and identity begun four years ago with Jim Hodges’ collaborative film project, Untitled. While Untitled juxtaposed archival footage, mainstream network news broadcasts, artists’ documentation, and popular TV, film, and music for a reflection on the personal and the political, Untitled,Expandedpresents features, documentaries, and short films that explore related themes by filmmakers past and presentfrom all over the world.

A portrait of Bambi Lake, a legendary and notorious San Francisco transgender performer who takes us on a stroll down Polk Street, sharing anecdotes behind her song "Golden Age of Hustlers," written about her time as a street hustler in the mid-70s.

The video for "Golden Age of Hustlers" is a 21st-century queer masterpiece and, according to Silas Howard,"an archival, inter-generational, collaborative labor of love." He should know, he co-directed the video with director Erin Greenwell (My Best Day, Sundance 2012) and, not only does the heartfelt video include many Downtown darlings and icons—such as Kate Bornstein, Merrie Cherry, Untitled Queen—it features singer Justin Vivian Bond front and center.

Howard explains that the the song and video is meant as a "queer time capsule set in the 1970s gay hustler scene on Polk Street in San Francisco."

From co-directors Silas Howard and Erin Greenwell comes "Golden Age Of Hustlers," a remake of an iconic song written by legendary punk transsexual chanteuse Bambi Lake, about the 1970's gay hustler scene on Polk Street in San Francisco during the pre-HIV/AIDS era.

Featuring Tony award-winning artist and performer Justin Vivian Bond, the song and video aim to give the viewer an insider's perspective of this important moment within the timeline of queer history.

It doesn't get much better than this: A new video hit the internets today featuring the amazing Justin Vivian Bond performing legendary punk transsexual chanteuse Bambi Lake's song "Golden Age of Hustlers."

Cabaret chanteuse and queer icon Justin Vivian Bond has a new video out today, which we're excited to be premiering on Papermag, featuring the artist performing the song "Golden Age of Hustlers," written by legendary punk transsexual singer Bambi Lake. The song -- and visuals -- revolve around the '70s-era, pre-AIDS epidemic hustling scene in San Francisco's Polk St. thoroughfare. The clip shows Bond singing onstage alongside key players in the NYC LGBTQ scene (including drag queen and Beautiful Person Merrie Cherry and transgender writer Kate Bornstein) while archival footage from the era (including shots of Lake) play in the background. And we'd be remiss not to give a s/o to the amazing costumes and headwear going on (we particularly love the feather-y turban worn by one performer).

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Frameline, the nation's only non-profit organization solely dedicated to the funding, exhibition, distribution and promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media arts, announced on January 30, 2014 the recipients of its annual Frameline Completion Fund.

STICKS AND STONES

Director Silas Howard / (Documentary Short)

“Every street has a story.” STICKS AND STONES is an intimate, short documentary about a song, a street, and a diva. Bambi Lake, a notorious San Francisco transgender performer and entertainer, takes us on a stroll down Polk Street, sharing anecdotes and the history behind her song “Golden Age of Hustlers,” which was written about her time as a street hustler in the mid-70’s.

Now 62, still living near Polk street and performing in small bars, she remains larger than life. Her status as an outsider with a legacy is evidenced by her music, stories and unique perspectives spanning histories of queer/trans people, sex work, rock 'n' roll, and over four decades of underground art/music scenes in San Francisco.

Mass media have a history of erasing transgender people's complexities and lived experiences. It happens whenever there's an act of misgendering or misnaming or a reliance on social assumptions that trans existence is essentially tragic or reducible to medical procedures. Thankfully, this year has seen a steady stream of trans-focused independent documentaries to offer a counterpoint, illuminating how nuanced, flawed, individualistic, and human trans lives are.

Silas Howard's inspiration for Sticks and Stones, his new short documentary on transgender performer Bambi Lake, echoes Feder's: "Bambi's story isn't one I've heard yet in film, and [I] feel attached to it personally as a trans person and musician." Howard -- who, as a member of pioneering '90s queercore band Tribe 8, holds a place in queer history in his own right -- feels compelled to preserve Lake's narrative for future generations. "Her story is such a part of my story, one I fear is left out of history far too often," he explains.

My alma mater published a study about the television shows I worke on!

This paper explores how specific media images affect adolescent attitudes andoutcomes. The specific context examined is the widely viewed MTV franchise, 16 and Pregnant,a series of reality TV shows including the Teen Mom sequels, which follow the lives of pregnantteenagers during the end of their pregnancy and early days of motherhood. We investigatewhether the show influenced teens’ interest in contraceptive use or abortion, and whether itultimately altered teen childbearing outcomes. We use data from Google Trends and Twitter todocument changes in searches and tweets resulting from the show, Nielsen ratings data tocapture geographic variation in viewership, and Vital Statistics birth data to measure changes inteen birth rates. We find that 16 and Pregnant led to more searches and tweets regarding birthcontrol and abortion, and ultimately led to a 5.7 percent reduction in teen births in the 18 monthsfollowing its introduction. This accounts for around one-third of the overall decline in teen birthsin the United States during that period.

Each episode of “16 and Pregnant” follows a different teenager through her pregnancy, delivery and the first weeks of parenthood. Its “Teen Mom” spinoff series, the latest season of which debuts on Jan. 21, follows up with the mothers and their children. The depiction of both joy and hardship is unflinching, with angry parents, medical complications, lost sleep, financial difficulties and fights with absentee boyfriends.

The two shows are both among MTV’s most watched, with some episodes drawing more than three million viewers, many of them young women. But the shows also have critics who say they glamorize teenage parenthood — especially since many of the mothers have become celebrities as a result of the show.

I shot second camera on this great short film directed by Silas Howard, with whom I have had the pleasure of working on Sticks & Stones: Bambi Lake, Golden Age of Hustlers and AB Soto's music video.

Excerpt:

An adventurous experiment letting loose 20 directors on Michelle Tea’s cult-adorednovel/memoir, “Valencia” is as much deconstruction as adaptation.

Among the more notable segments are a magic-mushroom trip sequence partially done as claymation; an uncomfortable road trip to the heartland for Iris’ prudish sister’s wedding; a slumming period with manic Space (Space Devon Bouvier), who believes he communicates with UFOs; and a new relationship with Cecelia (Rowan Parks), a knife-play enthusiast and alcoholic who initially satisfies all Michelle’s wild-side desires, but then disappoints by cleaning up her act. By the end our frequently bridge-burning heroine has acquired “a tiny army of girls I needed to avoid.”

The filmmakers — most but not all gay — include some familiar indie names (Cheryl Dunye, Jill Soloway, Silas Howard) as well as video artists, documentarians and a lesbian porn specialist. Like the onscreen Michelle, who’s whining about her lovelife one minute and picking a fight with a huge bouncer the next, results are all over the map. The effect is often bracing, but the lack of any real narrative or emotional throughline means there’s little cumulative impact, further underlined by the non-ending.

NewFest, New York's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Film Festival, unveiled details for its 26th edition in July. This year, 16 narrative and five documentaries will screen at the festival, which is a partnership between L.A.'s Outfest and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. NewFest showcases work from veteran filmmakers as well as newcomers and supports the mission to celebrate "diverse film communities and voices from around the world."

Filmmaker Janis Vogel really felt like a filmmaker — a real filmmaker, not just an Island girl done good — when her debut short, Drop, was selected for the international short film program that screened last Saturday as part of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival.

She left the screening excited to make her next film, and make it here. “I sort of have this desire to — what do you call it? — demystify the Island of it’s resort-like reputation.